Saturday, 13 June 2015

News: Northern Coalition(dot) Black Ops Fleet Ambushed in 9UY4-H

9UY4-H system, Providence region. On the 12th of June, 16:00 EVE Standard Time, a Black Ops fleet belonging to Northern Coalition(dot) [NC] was tackled by Providence Bloc, forcing [NC] to bring their Super Carriers once more in order to extract it.The battle started when Providence Bloc assembled a 20 pilot Hawk Assault Frigate gang on a Titan, looking for targets to drop on around the region. At the same time, an [NC] Black Ops gang of 13 Battleships and an Archon Carrier were looking for targets in the region as well. [NC] has been using its Black Ops fleets during the entirety of their deployment, with mixed results.The two sides met on the 4B-NQN gate in the 9UY4-H system, when the Providence Bloc bait ship pointed, and was pointed by the [NC] hunter ship. Both ships quickly lit cynosural beacons and the two fleets jumped in and immediately clashed on the gate.It soon became apparent that Providence Bloc could not hope to break through the remote repairs of the Carrier, especially with what it had on field. A call was made for reinforcements as well as reshipping, while Interdictors kept the [NC] fleet tackled, Providence Bloc losing ships all the while attempting to hold points.

The [NC] force managed to jump to the 4B-NQN system, but was once more tackled by the Interdictors. This gave Providence Bloc ample time to bring a more suitable force, of 50 pilots in a Naga Battlecruiser fleet. The force managed to destroy 4 Black Ops Battleships, though losing a few ships in return, before [NC] managed to jump in 7 Super Carriers to save the rest of their fleet. The Archon presumably was unable to hold remote repairers working due to capacitor issues. as in no point was it reported in Triage mode.Once the Super Carriers were on the field, the [NC] fleet warped out to a safe tower they had in the system, leaving Providence Bloc to loot the field.

Fidelas Constans [FCON] were present in the start and the end of the exchange, bringing a 30 pilot Harpy Assault Frigate fleet, but seemed to have contributed very little. They did prioritize [NC] over Providence Bloc, and once the former retreated, disengaged without incident.Battle report for the 4B-NQN system can be found here.The system saw less than 100 pilots during the fight with no Time Dilation reported. The engagement from start to end lasted 30 minutes.Providence Bloc lost 39 ships and nearly 4 Bil ISK in damages, while [NC] lost only 11 ships, but 4 of which were Black Ops Battleships, for 8.4 Bil ISK of damage. [FCON] lost 13 ships, for a total of 0.5 Bil ISK.While this may not end [NC]'s Black Ops campaign in the region, it may cause a few of its participants to think twice before jumping to what may be an unsuspecting target, or a trap ready to be sprung.Special thanks to Calette Zardina, of Ember Inc(dot), Curatores Veritatis Alliance for granting an interview.